This invention relates to a locking device, with a magnetic key release. Such devices are particularly intended for use in patient safety restraints in medical and nursing care situations, but obviously could have many other applications.
Such locking devices when used with a system of interchangeable and variable belts or straps can enable professional medical staff to provide a safe and appropriate restraint to meet the needs of each specific patient, the devices being used to secure the straps or belts to each other through suitable holes.
Existing devices, such as the one shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,638,285, provide a two-part locking button, with a magnetic key release, but suffer from the serious disadvantage of requiring a high strength magnet, which can cause interference with delicate electronic equipment in a hospital room, or with other equipment such as a pacemaker within a patient.